Ask John: Are There Any Other Shows Like Excel Saga?

Question:
I’m still relatively new to anime, but has there ever been a series that’s just as crazy, or crazier than Excel Saga?

Answer:
Excel Saga (from 1999) owes a lot to the 1996 children’s shoujo TV series Kodomo no Omocha, which was popular enough to get 102 TV episodes and a pilot OAV. While Kodomo no Omocha does not include movie and extensive pop culture parody references, it does feature the same sort of bizarre humor and frenetic “speed speech” later seen in Excel Saga. Then, right around the time Excel Saga was ending on Japanese television, a new 13 episode TV series called Miami Guns premiered on Japanese television on February 5, 2000. Although Miami Guns doesn’t include the fast talking Mitsuishi Kotono, the little known Miami Guns did include just as many, if not more parody references to anime and western films than Excel Saga did. Miami Guns included sight gags and parodies of numerous titles including Evangelion, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Matrix, Initial D, Wacky Races, Rat Fink, Die Hard with a Vengeance and Bruce Willis himself, professional wrestling, Godzilla, and ninja movies, and simply bizarre, wacky humor including a recurring sight gag involving two gay, nearly naked bodybuilders.

I should also mention the 2 episode Excel Saga spin-off OAV series Puni Puni Poemi based on Excel Saga episode 17. Puni Puni Poemi is the unofficial Excel Saga OAV series, focusing on Poemi Watanabe, daughter of Excel Saga recurring character Nabeshin. Puni Puni Poemi was created by the same animation staff that animated Excel Saga, and retains Excel Saga’s voice cast and Excel Saga’s non-stop barrage of bizarre humor.